Garage Sale, Yard Sale, Rummage Sale, Moving Sale—call it what you want—it is that time of year again.
I consider myself a bit of a yard sale connoisseur, I love rummaging through people’s old treasures. Even when I don’t plan on buying anything, I enjoy sifting through the remnants of history and nostalgia. That, and sometimes I find some really cool stuff.
Having my own garage sale has proven to be almost as much fun—but a lot more work! That said, I have picked up a few tips to help anyone have their best garage sale yet!
1. Pick Your Date
This is important! Your goal to is to ride the wave of garage sale traffic that happens in late spring and early summer. Wait too long and you won’t have as many customers. I would recommend the first two weekends in June. Usually you want to schedule your sale on a Saturday morning (around 8:00 am) when most die-hard garage-saler’s are off work and looking to shop!
2. Piggy Back or Partner Up
Again, this goes back to choosing your date and maximizing your traffic. You can accomplish this by “piggy backing off other garage sales. When people go to garage sales, they want to hit several in a morning. Take a look in the local newspaper or Facebook seller groups to see when other garage sales might be happening in your area. Even better, have friends or neighbors join you and advertise as a “multi-family” or “neighborhood” garage sale. Which brings me to my next tip . . .
3. Advertise! Advertise! Advertise!
You can, of course, take out an ad in your local newspaper. However, this may not be worth the cost. Personally, I would recommend advertising on social media. Facebook has many “Garage Sale” an “Upcycle” groups in which you can advertise your upcoming garage sale. And then there is always the good old-fashioned method of hanging up signs and flyers.
4. Bank on Big Ticket Items 
The surest way to attract customers, in my experience, is to advertise some big-ticket items. Furniture, athletic gear, sporting equipment, tools, appliances, and larger baby items (cribs, bouncers, high chairs, etc.) are all things that will draw people to your sale.
5. Price Competitively
Once you get customers to your garage sale, you want them to buy stuff! Make sure your prices aren’t too high. Some people will make you an offer anyway if they think your price is too high, but some will just walk away. You can get an idea of the prices people are willing to pay for specific items by checking out those Facebook sale groups again! Another great strategy is selling items in “lots.” This is an especially good way to sell baby clothes, books, or DVD’s. I have also had customers fill a grocery bag for $5. 
Try out these tips and have a successful sale!
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May 1, 2019 at 6:11 pm
Good stuff.I’m looking forward to reading your other posts.PS.I’m gonna have to share this post!